Such were the immunities enjoyed by these colonies and their consequent state Of prosperity, that many barons volunta rily renounced the privileges of their rank to settle in them. Many behetrias, or free cities, which were at liberty to place themselves under the protection of any lord they chose, preferred the patron age of the king, in order to enjoy the same privileges as the concejos. Similar fueros were also granted to such cities as ren dered eminent services in the wars against the Moors, In all ordinary cases the ayuntamiento decided alone, but every subject which could interest the whole community was, and is even at this day, particularly in villages, decided in concejo ablest°, or open council, in which all the citizens in the commune have a voice. When the king ordered anything contra fsero, the alcalde, placing the king's order apon his head as a sign of respect, pro vounced his veto by the well-known formula of " obedezcase y no as cumpla," that is, let it be obeyed and not fulfilled. These synntamientos had also the privi lege of sending their procnradores, or deputies, to the Cortes, or great assemblies of the nation ; and these procuradores formed there the Brazo de las Universi dades, or the House of Commons. This Brazo was always the most powerful auxiliary of the crown, and the most effective check against the pretensions of the barons in the times of feudalism. During the disturbed minorities of Fer dinando IV. and Alone° IX. of Castile, the municipal constitution of Spam suf fered greatly. The kings and the feudal lords, always ready to take every advan tage to forward their own interest, and to encroach upon the liberties of the nation, availed themselves of the pretext of dis turbances in the elections of the ayunta mientos, and the king usurped the right of appointing their members in some concejos. The Cortes constantly remon strated against this abuse, and several laws were enacted to prevent its continu ance. Another innovation introduced by the kings was that of appointing corregi dores, or 'woes aattlwiadm, salaried judges, to administer justice in the cone. jos, in the name of the king, by which measure he deprived the ayuntamiento of the judicial power. Under John II. of Castile, in the fifteenth century, on account of some dispute in the city of Toledo, it was established that the ayun tamiento of that city should consist of sixteen regidores—eight for the nobility, and eight for the commons, all ap ..inted by the king, and holding their o • for life. "This abuse," says Mariana, "led to another—that of selling these offices, to the great detriment of the common weal, and thus institutions which are good in their origin and tendency, are often turned into evil." The nation continuing its remonstrances against this abuse, a law was enacted about 1540 ( Recopila cion, book vii. title 3rd, law 25th), by which it was ordered that no town having a population under 500 vecinos (about 2000 souls) should have an ayuntamiento appointed by the government. Under
the profligate government of Philip IV. the municipal offices were shamefully sold to the highest bidder in every large city ; but in the small towns and villages, where these offices offered little or no inducement, they continued to be elective. Some towns bought the privilege of electing their municipal officers, and were called on that account concejos redimidos, or redeemed councils. Under the presi dency of Count Aranda it was established that two officers named personeros dipu tados del comun, or hombres-buenos, should be elected in every town to protect the interests of the people in the ayunta miento. The Cortes of 1812 abolished all the abuses, and all the towns were restored to their primitive right of electing heir municipal officers. Ferdinand VII., on his return from France, in 1814, rescinded everything which the Cortes had done, and restored the ayuntamientos perpetuos.
Notwithstanding the continual efforts of the government to destroy this salu tary institution, so contrary to that cen tralizing system first established by Na poleon, and unfortunately blindly followed by more than one enlightened nation, it still exists, and has been at all times a check against despotism—feeble indeed, but yet sufficient to have still preserved in the Spanish nation a democratical spirit, which, on all occasions of great national interest, has manifested itself in its fulness. Ignorance of the municipal constitutions of Spain is one of the causes why politicians, both native and foreign, are so frequently deceived in their judgments and calculations relative to Spain, particularly in times of great political excitement. We have seen in our days, not to quote other more remote examples, that when the Spanish govern ment in 1808 deserted the nation, de livering it into the hands of the French; when the nobility, the high clergy, and all the high civil and military function aries acknowledged the disgraceful trans actions of Bayonne, the alcalde of Mostoles (Schepeler, Histoire de la Revolution d 'Espagne, vol. i. chap. 3, p. 55), an insignificant village in the neighbourhood of Madrid, raised the national standard against the Emperor of the French, and the whole nation flocking round it, exer cised in its fulness that portion of the sovereign power which it had always preserved. This ignorance is perhaps one of the reasons why some individuals have so unjustly accused of dangerous innovations the principles of the consti tution of Cadiz, in which however nothing else was contained than doctrines sanctioned by all the local fueros ; and no rights were there proclaimed but those which the nation at all times had exer cised, and was then actually exercising. (Mariana, Examen de in Antigua Legit. lacion de Eapaiia ; Recopilacion de las Leges de estos Reinos, book vii. ; Mariana, Htstoria de Esparta, book xx. chap. 13.)